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Everyone against ablation

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Everyone against ablation

Madrid, 6th February, 2013. The Women For Africa Foundation is adding its voice to the International Day Against Female Genital Mutilation, commemorated today, 6th February, under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO) in order to raise awareness around the world about this practice.

It is estimated that FGM currently affects about 140 million girls and women, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, and each year more than 3 million girls are at risk of suffering from it.

The practice of ablation is a fundamental violation of the rights of women and girls. It is an attack on their physical and psychological integrity that also does them irreparable harm.
The WHO is devoting special attention this year to the worrying trend whereby the health care providers themselves carry out the female genital mutilation, thus helping to legitimize and maintain it.

Last November, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution for the first time condemning FGM and calling on the member states to prohibit and punish the practice. It also urged them to promote awareness-raising programmes and to involve community and religious leaders, teaching institutions, the media and families. The document was approved unanimously by all the UN member countries.